20 March, 2008

Here are a few photos of the latest VO frame. The color is a custom metallic blue. These photos aren't the sharpest, but I think you'll agree that Johnny's work is very impressive. It really shows restraint and elegance. The workmanship is so perfect that it stands on its own. There is no need for flashy graphics, stainless steel ornamentation, weird cutouts, or the other embellishment that we too often see today. There is simply no need to add more. The rest of the photos are here.

Michael, I assume you mean the star-shaped plates at the bridges. I don't want to speak for Johnny, but I think he feels they are unnecessary and only add weight, especially on a bike with stay-mounted brakes. I ask him to use them because they add "perceived quality". Some customers feel they are a sign of a strong frame. In any case, they are either a no-cost option or a standard feature.

Well, why there is no seatstay reinforcer is because where the "racer" brakes demand that the brake braze ons' land, the bridge reinforcer would run right into it. Its only when a customer requests a different brake that I have used reinforcers. Yes they look cool but not when the canti boss is running into it.

Hey, that's my frame! Thanks so much to Johnny and Chris. The frame looks perfect and the color turned out beautifully. Definitely worth the wait.

It will probably take a month or so for my to complete the initial build with everything except the lights and I'll send in some photos. I hope my build does it justice.

The frame has internal wiring for a rear generator light, although I haven't yet decided whether to do a fender-mounted light or something custom like the light Mark Vande Kamp made (see last issue of Bike Quarterly). Front light will be the soon-to-be-released new Schmidt LED headlight.

does anyone know if the brakes of the sort that this bike will use are likely to make as much noise as cantilevers? or will they be as silent as 57mm "long"-reachers like the Tektros Velo Orange sells?...

Any brake that makes noise isn't properly adjusted. Center pull, cantilever, short reach side pull, long reach side pull, etc. Doesn't matter what the design is. Properly adjusted, they're all quiet. Of course some are much easier to adjust than others!

Yukari hasn't made much progress w/Riverone, but hope springs eternal.

I didn't catch it the first time around, but the second time I did. The head tube logo is really Parisian Art Deco cool. Sort of subtle, doesn't jump out at you, but when you finally do look at it a bit, it is very distinctive.

I like an alternative to Brooks - my wife and I have (discontinued) Brooks Conquest & Countess, nice seat, but the rails are so sloping that even at the max tilt angle on your average seat post, it still is tilted a little forward.

Track pedals, boy, I'd love to see some inspired by C-Record/Croce D'Aune style and quality.

I'm still agonizing over crankset for Mondia buildup. A 110 that has a little more elegant lines, like Sugino AT would be cool. All the in production ones (that I know about) all look sort of mountain bikey.

Actually, I have an old, of all things, Specialized 110 crankset that I have on commuter that I wish I could get another that looked/functioned the same. It wouldn't look at all out of place on a constructuer bike.

with all due respect, as a engineer, I can assure you that brakes squeal because of forces that affect, rim, fork, brake, brake design, brake material, etc..

the notion that a "well adjusted brake" will not make any noise is as ludicrous as suggesting the moon is made of swiss cheese...

so, again: some brakes make more noise than others, comparatively speaking. ASSUMING prefect adjustment. do the brakes on this bike -- resembling the old mafacs -- make noticeable noise; very little; a lot of racket?

Years ago I was assembling an Ibis mtn bike for a customer. He was a very tall guy and wanted Grafton speed controllers. Those brakes squealed like crazy. and suntour cantis, dia compe cantis, everything but Deore XT's. Brake boosters didn't help either. It turned out that the seatstays were so long and and the diameter was so small that they vibrated just enough to make the pads skip and squeal on the rim surface. It wasn't the first time Ibis had that issue. The next shipments of taller frames all came with larger dia stays.

Brake noise ... well that's an interesting topic. My only bike that makes any serious brake noise or seriously noticeable noise has a set of Paul Touring Canti's along with some Mavic A719 rims. I tried to adjust the stock pads and even had a couple of expert mechanics do their thing. And they will still sound very loud on occasions. And sometimes that's good. It's like scary noise let's people know of my presence.

It seems they are noisiest when it's relatively damp or overcast and quietest when dry. I've given up on trying to adjust them perfectly because I don't think there is a perfect adjustment. Maybe a little better adjustment from time to time but no perfect adjustment.

The pads are of course the standard black Kool Stop. None of the other bikes one with vintage canti's, one with vintage Campy Record, one with vintage Dura Ace, and a cool moutain bike with Precision Billet V-Brakes make any real noise. Just my Milwaukee with the canti's.

I found an early 70s (I think) Holdsworth at the dump last fall. It's a really nice frame, but too large for me and kind of a mess, so I haven't done anything with it yet. On mine, the stays do a full wraparound, unlike the ones on the rando frame, which are pointed and meet in the middle (is there a name for that?). I like the Holdsworth, but I think the rando's seat cluster is a lot more elegant.

Phillip: I notice the same things with my Pauls. They tend to squeal when most notably when damp. Damp or dry, they grip well and stop the bike fast.

Johnny's Rando is just superb. As usual, his unique eye for little details shines through. I am sure Brett will find himself discovering little details he just cannot get over and loves to death for years to come.

Agreed. It's the precision of the lugwork in every detail, the seat cluster in particular.

That said, keep that Holdsworth! If you're interested in the history, there's a lot of information here:http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff

SBS

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Ian Dickson a dit...

SBS:

I found an early 70s (I think) Holdsworth at the dump last fall. It's a really nice frame, but too large for me and kind of a mess, so I haven't done anything with it yet. On mine, the stays do a full wraparound, unlike the ones on the rando frame, which are pointed and meet in the middle (is there a name for that?). I like the Holdsworth, but I think the rando's seat cluster is a lot more elegant.

Thanks for the link. Good stuff. I won't get rid of the Holdsworth, but heck if I know what to do with it. Too nice to bring back to the dump, but too trashed to sell. And it's a 62cm frame! I'm only 5'10".